Staying Within The Price Range

State Usually Lands Ok Deals But Can't Go Bargain Hunting

Florida's closet of conservation land isn't a collection of overpriced designer labels, but it's not a rack of thrift-store bargains, either.

A computer analysis by The Orlando Sentinel shows the state on average has paid slightly less than the appraised value - 94 percent - for the 2,133 parcels of conservation land bought since 1979.

The state reorganized its land-buying effort that year in the midst of a scandal that sent the executive director of Florida's Department of Natural Resources to prison.

''In general the state has been getting pretty good deals,'' said Ed Montanaro, director of the Division of Economic and Demographic Research, an arm of the Legislature that has been studying the state's program.

By comparison, the state Department of Transportation spends an average of 135 percent of the appraised value for about 2,000 parcels a year. The road-building agency often goes to court to get its land, which usually increases the price.

But the Sentinel's analysis of conservation land purchases also showed that the state had overpaid for a handful of properties when another government agency was involved in the deal. Environmental officials worry that practice will continue as more agencies buy land.

Since 1979 the priciest property - 25 acres in Dade County - has cost taxpayers $25.7 million. The least expensive - less than an acre in Collier County - went for $150.

The state has spent its largest sum in Monroe County: $82.2 million on more than 4,900 acres - about $16,700 an acre. North Florida's Taylor County, where land tends to be cheap, led the state for the number of acres protected: more than 64,600 acres, for about $316 an acre.

In the six-county Central Florida area, Lake County received the largest chunk of conservation dollars: $45 million for about 10,000 acres along the Wekiva River. Osce-

ola County ranked as the poor stepsister: $216,800 spent on 253 acres.

These figures do not include purchases by water districts, local governments or private land trusts. Combined, they buy as much land as the state, but they must follow different rules.

The Sentinel's analysis showed that the state has paid more than the appraised value 21 times - ranging from $148 to $1.5 million above appraisals.

''I don't think you'd find many developers paying'' more than the appraised value, said Don Asher, vice president of the Florida Association of Realtors in Orlando.

Landowners, in some cases, persuade local governments to kick in more money than the state is allowed to pay, which is the highest of two appraisals.

This practice, called joint-purchases, has been criticized by the state auditor general, but it became legal in 1988 after criticism that appraisers hired by the state undervalued property. State agencies may pay up to 150 percent of appraised values if they split the cost with a local government, another agency or a non-profit land trust.

For example, the 1991 audit says that the state appraised nine pieces of Brevard County beach-front property at $10.1 million. However, through a joint-purchase, the state and county paid landowners $12.4 million - 123 percent of the appraisal.

The practice makes it difficult for the state to negotiate bargains, said Pete Mallison, who directs the division of state lands.

''Sometimes we don't have any control over it,'' Mallison said. ''The lobbyists hit the city or county and say, 'This is the only way the deal is going to go.' . . . Before we get involved, it's already in the works.''